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Come late June, the pups will be taken from their nursery and placed in the aquarium’s 55,000 gallon coral reef tunnel exhibit.

Aquarium officials said biologists will determine the exact number of pups for the exhibit at a later date.

Aquarium officials said the world’s shark ray population is depleting at a faster rate than it is being replaced due to habitat destruction, pollution, overfishing and the use of their fins for products like fin soup.

The shark ray breeding program at the Newport Aquarium has had success in the past. In October 2015, aquarium officials announced that both of its female shark rays – Sweet Pea and Sunshine – were pregnant. The cases were the second and third documented cases of shark ray breeding in captivity in the world.